Railway journal box



Nov. 14, 1933. A. E. LE GARE 1,935,365

RAILWAY JOURNAL BOX Filed July 8, 1932 v fly I HffZ/Wey Patented Nov. 14,. 1933 e 1 RAILWAY JOURNAL Box 7 Arthur E. Le Gara st. Louis, Mo; assignor to Gen- I eral Steel Castings Corporation, Granite City,

This inventionrelates to railway rolling stock and consists in a novel driving box andspr'ing saddle structure particularly adapted for use in locomotives.

v 5 It is the usual practice in locomotive con -structi0n to mount a separately formed spring saddle member upon the upper wall of the driving box, the upper part of the saddle serving as o a seat for a spring or equalizer member forming 1o part of the spring equalizing system supporting the locomotive frame. With such an arrangement there is a tendency for the saddle to tilt inwardly, drawing the supported spring out of alinement and unevenly transferring the load to the bearing brass and journal. Tilting of the saddle also causes excessive wearing of the inner 'lower edge portion of the saddle and of the abutting portion of the driving box, and frequently the saddle inclines so as to bear against the adjacent portion of the locomotive underframe causing friction between and wear of these parts.

Also the usual construction necessitates the provision of suitable reinforcing flanges on the upper part of the driving box which increase the necessary vertical clearance between the journal.

and frame, and which, because of the necessary clearance between the spring hangers and boiler lagging, limit the depth of the adjacent part 01 3Q the frame wheel piece.

i {is These objects and others are attained by the structures illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a side view illustrating a locomotive driving'box and a portion of the underframe and spring equalizer system.

Figure 2 is a half vertical transverse section taken on the line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top view of the driving box.

Figure 4 is a side view of the same.

to The novel driving box structure is illustrated as applied to an integral locomotive underframe or bed structure including box section backbone member. 1, wheel pieces 2 projecting sidewardly therefrom and including pedestals 3, and vertical 5 transverse reinforcing webs 4 extending from sidejto side of the underframe between the ped- Y 'estals. The pedestals arereinforced by vertical longitudinal walls 24 extending-a1ong the side of the underframe and merging with the ends of webs 4. The frame is 'supportedby 'a spring equalizing system including elliptic springs 23, hangers 25, and equalizer bars 26 pivoted at 27 to the vertical walls 24.

The driving box includes the usual hollow body portion having an upper wall with an arcuate 5 under-surface for seating bearing brass 5 and being open at the bottom to receive a cellar 6 for waste or other lubricating material. The box and cellar at the lower edges have lugs 7 and 8, respectively, receiving bolts 9' for sup- 7Q porting the cellar. The box is supported between the pedestals by a pedestal binder 10 bolted to the under-surface of the bed. The box has side flanges 11 receiving the pedestals 3 and plane intermediate side walls 12 bearing against 7 suitable liners on the inner surfaces of the pedestals. A wedge 13 is inserted between one of the pedestals and the'adjacent side of the box, the wedge being provided with an automatic adjusting device 14.

' outer crescent-shaped face 15 opposing the driver 5 hub 19. The flanges 11 are extended upwardly above the body portion of the box to form spaced saddle-forming walls 16 reinforced by diagonal ribs 17. The inner wall l6 extends through an opening 18 in the top web of the wheel piece 2. Mounted on the upper extremities of the walls 16 is a spring seat 20 having grooves in the lower surface for adjusting shims 21 and the upper extremities of the walls. The upper surface of the spring seat is substantially of U-section for receiving the lower portion of band 22 of elliptic spring 23. I

With the use of the present invention the construction and assembly of the driving box and spring saddle is materially simplified while at the same time these parts are strengthened and tilting of the spring saddle on the box is prevented. The integral spring saddle adequately reinforces the upper wall of the box, permitting the elimination of the usual reinforcing flanges. This decreases the necessary vertical clearance between the journal and underframe and provides adequate space between theboiler (not shown) and the frame for the spring hangers.

Moreover, disassembly of the boxes and wheels from the underframe is no more diflicult with the use of the integral spring saddle, and the frame need not be raised higher, than is the case where the saddle is separately formed. With the use of the present invention, raising of the underframe causes the upper web of the wheel piece 2 .to engage the spring seat 20, lifting the same with the supported spring from the saddle walls 16 and permitting the wheel piece to clear the saddle and driving box.

The invention is not limited to use with in tegral locomotive underframes but may advanwithin the scope of the appended claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is: c

1. A locomotive driving box member having integral. spaced upwardly disposed walls constituting a spring saddle, and a separable spring seat member connecting the tops of said walls.

2. In combination, a locomotive driving box structure having a body part and spaced Walls extending substantially above said part and constituting an integral spring saddle, and a spring seat element connecting said walls andhavinggrooves in the lower surface receiving the upper extremities thereof.

3. In, combination, a locomotive driving box structure having a body part and spaced walls extending substantially above said part and constituting an integral spring saddle, a spring seat element connecting said walls and having grooves in the lower surface receiving the upper extremities thereof, and spring adjusting shims inserted in said grooves.

ARTHUR E. LE GARE. 

